Babel by R.F. Kuang

Babel by R.F. Kuang
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Robin Swift, born in Canton and orphaned by the Cholera pandemic, is brought to London by Professor Lovell, a professor at Oxford's Royal Institute of Translation (Babel). Robin is ruthlessly trained day and night in the subject of languages and translation to fulfil Professor Lovell's orders of his enrollment at Babel. Years later, Robin is ready for Babel and learns just how the magic of language can change the world - but soon, Robin realizes that there is a cost to the knowledge and power that Babel holds. 

This is one of the most extraordinary books I have ever read. The amount of work, knowledge, research, imagination, organization, and CONFIDENCE that R.F. Kuang had to have had in order to put this together far surpasses my understanding of what humans are capable of. Babel is genuinely incredible. There is so much genre-meshing here - Babel is fantasy, dark academia, historical fiction, and political! This is, by far, one of my favorite coming of age stories I have ever read. 

I really grew to love these characters and the setting absolutely envelops you - I swear I could see everything Kuang described. Some of the criticisms that Babel has received are valid, although I don't agree with all of them. Some have said that this book reads like a textbook. That's true, but it's something I adored about the story. I loved learning about the history of translation as well as the political repercussions that go along with the gathering (and hoarding) of information and resources. 

I rated Babel 5 stars for all of these reasons, although I do have a few personal criticisms. Firstly, I feel like the supporting characters needed/deserved more. Poppy War is a great example of secondary characters having fully fleshed out histories/origins. Secondly, I hated the ending. I just really wasn't happy with it, though, admittedly, it was a good way to end the book.

Babel is a masterpiece. I need a sequel ASAP! I highly recommend this for fantasy lovers and/or history buffs. The political content is beautifully done, which is always expected from R.F Kuang at this point. Wow. Just wow - I adored this book!